We wish all readers
of the newsletter
and their families a
very Merry
Christmas, one that
will blessed and
rewarding and a
peaceful and
prosperous New Year.

NEW DETAILS ON
PASSING OF SHIPMATE

Don Decrona has
supplied details
that were missing
when the July 17th
edition of Mineman
News was published.
We offer our
condolences to the
widow of Stephen J.
Scharschan over his
passing, nearly a
year ago.

Steve and Helen
Scharschan

CWO-4 Stephen Joseph
Scharschan, born
Dec. 27, 1923, New
York City, was the
son of John
Scharschan who was
born in Poland and
Anna Scharschan, who
was born in Hungary.
"Steve" enlisted in
the U.S. Navy on13
December 1943. He
served on board the
USS Nerius (AS-17)
as a Torpedoman 2nd
Class. He made CWO-4
rank on 1 July 1958,
the rank at which he
retired on 1
February 1986. Since
retirement he
graduated from the
San Diego State
University with a
Bachelor of Science
Degree in Business
Accounting, worked
for General Dynamics
as an engineer on
the Cruise Missile
and as a Financial
Analyst for the
Computer Systems.

Scharschan was
married to his first
wife, Mary (1919 -
1972), who, upon her
death, was buried at
Arlington National
Cemetery. He
subsequently married
HelenD. Sargeant,
who survived him.

Stephen's wife gave
the following
account of his last
days: "A sad
Christmas this year
without my Steve. He
celebrated with me
and some of the
children his 90th
birthday on 27
December 2013 and
passed away New
Years Eve, 31
December 2013.

It took six months
to schedule his
interment at
Arlington National
Cemetery, VA. He had
full military
honors. Absolutely
beautiful! Navy
Honor Guardsmen;
Navy Band; 21 Gun
Salute and a "fly
over." He had it
all." He lies in
Arlington next to
his first wife,
Mary, at Section 53,
Site 2133. He is
remembered in
Find-a-Grave at
this site.

FURTHER DETAILS ON AOM
FLAG

Every once in a while,
an AOM member comes up
with a brilliant idea.
This year, Toby Horn
came up with one that
tops all those that
preceded it. The design
of an official AOM flag
was a pure stroke of
genius! In an effort to
get all hands on board
to support this symbol
of our existence, Toby
writes:

"At the reunion this
year, the AOM adopted a
"battle flag" to
represent our
association and
symbolize what we are
and the places where
we've served - and to
provide a means where a
member can add their own
touch of recognition.

"The flag is simply a
huge "Bravo" flag which
many of us worked under
for many years of our
lives as we worked on
mines or other explosive
devices. Flying the
flag meant that
explosives were present,
therefore Minemen were
present - hence the idea
of having the flag for
our reunion events
because - yup - Minemen
are present.

"The initials 'AOM' are
emblazoned on the flag
and the pole will be
embellished with
'campaign' streamers to
represent a member's
favorite place of duty.
The first one was
provided to show the
Naval Schools of Mine
Warfare, Yorktown -
where so many of our old
timers got their start.
Other streamers can be
purchased and donated by
any member to represent
his or her favorite
place of duty. This
also offers the
opportunity for the next
of kin of any deceased
member to recognize a
place in the history of
their loved ones as
echoed in past sea
stories.

"The rules are simple.
You can choose any color
scheme of streamer and
letters that you want,
but the name on the
streamer must be a
legitimate place of duty
where the member served
in a mine capacity.
Streamers are priced
according to the number
of letters included in
the name, and are made
by a specialty flag shop
in Charleston, SC called
Carolina Flag and
Banner. These are
professionally made,
folks, so they aren't
cheap. You can contact
Jason Brooke at
jason@carolinaflag.net
or call 800-544-8535 for
info, pricing and
ordering.

"We think it is great
to start this new
tradition where a member
can have a streamer made
and present it to the
AOM, along with
associated sea story,
during the next reunion
dinner meeting.
Incidentally, a streamer
of choice is awarded as
a door prize at the
reunion dinner."

While Toby didn't state
the cost of the
streamers, they will
probably cost in the
neighborhood of $60-$70,
a small price to pay to
recognize the stations
where can still recall
some of our fondest
memories.

It might be a mark of
wisdom for
two or more
minemen to split the
cost of a streamer so
that their designated
duty station could be
represented. If you are
as proud as I am for
having had the
opportunity to serve in
the Mine Force, imagine
what a feeling of honor
it will be to see our
national and service
colors paraded forward,
followed by the AOM
banner, flying streamers
that we dedicated, for
all to see.

MYSTERY MINEMAN

The last issue of
MINEMAN NEWS provided a
photo of MNSN John
Loonam while Serving at
Point Loma. Good guess
by Dick Schommer.

This
issue of MINEMAN NEWS
has a new mystery
mineman. Can anyone tell
us who this gentleman
is?